Sunday, August 30, 2009

BELGIAN GP QUALIFYING


There couldn't have been a more interesting or perplexing qualifying than this one. I was absolutely confused about it. The whole order of things has been shaken up for reasons still unknown or unbelievable. Some of the reasons to explain it is either lack of downforce or low fuel. we'll have to wait for the weights to be published to get a clearer picture.

But for now, Fisichella and Force India are on pole. Yes, you read it right, Force India have scored their first pole ever. Shame for Sutil who got P11, he was outpacing Fisi for much of Friday and Saturday practice.

McLaren were fast and stable on Friday and Saturday practice but something happened overnight and they finished in the middle of the pack. Lewis was right when he downplayed their chances at Spa. It seems that they still have not found the downforce they need in fast corners and Spa is full of fast flowing corners. Only the rain could save them now.

The Brawns didn't do too well either with only Barrichello making it into Q3 and Button stuck behind Alonso in P14. The Red Bulls didn't have a good day either with Vettel p8 and Webber P9 with both constanly worrying about their engines on every lap.

The surprise is Toyota who managed to get 2 cars in the top 10 and best of all BMW with Heidfeld P3 and Kubica P5. Funny that after announcing they were leaving F1 then only their car started to improve. Or is it that they are advertising their team for sale? And both Heidfeld and Kubica are posturing for new jobs?

Whatever it is, the race tomorrow should be a good one with a mixed grid at the start and some interesting strategies put in place. Also, I hope the weather interferes and we'll see some overtaking in the rain. It's a long track.

Times
01 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:46.308
02 J. Trulli Toyota 1:46.395
03 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:46.500
04 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:46.513
05 R. Kubica BMW 1:46.586
06 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:46.633
07 T. Glock Toyota 1:46.677
08 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:46.761
09 M. Webber Red Bull 1:46.788
10 N. Rosberg Williams 1:47.362
11 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:45.119
12 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:45.122
13 F. Alonso Renault 1:45.136
14 J. Button Brawn GP 1:45.251
15 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:45.259
16 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:45.951
17 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:46.032
18 K. Nakajima Williams 1:46.307
19 R. Grosjean Renault 1:46.359
20 L. Badoer Ferrari 1:46.957

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